Asthma costs state $1.3 billion a year in medical expenses, lost productivity: report

A Friday report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reveals that asthma costs the state $1.3 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity. (John Millar/Getty Images)

Asthma costs the state $1.3 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity, according to a report released Friday by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

Prescription drugs accounted for the biggest slice of the Medicaid program's asthma-related expenses — growing from about $224 million in 2008-09 to about $307 million in 2012-13. Spending on hospitalizations declined, but they still represented $660 million of the total costs, the report said.

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About 1.7 million New Yorkers suffer from asthma, and the Bronx consistently has the highest rate of the disease in the state. There are now 103,654 people in the borough with asthma, up from 82,279 in 2008-09.

The rate has steadily declined in children — 315,344 children were affected in 2010, compared with 428,117 in 2009.

Experts said those statistics could reflect under-reporting. "We are only looking at those receiving care, and some parents are immigrants and don't have access to care," said Marina Reznik at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.